


Linger

by Saraellen10



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Betty never liked Archie or kissed him, F/M, Fix-It, Fluff, Light Angst, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-05-06
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:20:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24044272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saraellen10/pseuds/Saraellen10
Summary: Betty never kissed Archie. But she's sad about living across the country from Jughead for college. This is their final date before they both leave for school. Enjoy, and please let know what you think!
Relationships: Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones
Comments: 4
Kudos: 19





	Linger

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by the song "Not Like it Was" by Tall Heights

_I know, I know it’s not like it was_

_That don’t mean I’m just hanging up_

_\--_

We are all just floating. Floating, drifting; some sailing, others hovering. Like dust making its way through the air hoping to stick to something...anything, we face collision along the way and just hope that it won’t throw us off the path we cling to like oxygen.

As for the final destination, well, it’s unknown. For all we know, it could be the monsters we once feared were under our beds as children or the self-deprecating voice coming from our anxious teenage mind. But why do we aimlessly wander, waiting to land, when we don’t know where we are landing and what will be there when we do? It seems like a suicide mission after all. But every person accepts the journey for whatever fate lies ahead.

Why? Because just maybe when we stop floating and colliding and hovering, we will land and the dust around us will settle. And when our eyelids flutter open, and I mean truly open, we not only see what’s in front of us but see everything. We see the world that, before, was a muddled blur. We feel the ground beneath our feet molding to us, cementing us into this new foreign territory. Our bodies no longer feel limp and our minds no longer dazed.

We will be rejuvenated, reborn with passion and purpose. So that is why we embark on this odyssey: for the one tiny, microscopic iota of a chance that we will float down and fall exactly where we are meant to be.

At least that’s what Betty told herself. Every morning Betty wrote these same musings down in her journal. That is every morning since it was set in stone that she and the man she loved would be 1,075.3 miles apart for the next chapter of her life. That wasn’t the plan. They were supposed to be together, leave town, meet new people, face new challenges, and grow. They were supposed to do this together. But as much as Betty grasped onto this fantasy, using it as her only lifeboat keeping her afloat in her crazy world, deep down, Betty knew she was foolish. Things don’t fall into place perfectly, especially not for Betty Cooper. Despite that one fleeting second where things were seemingly coming together. But of course, real-life got in the way and got messy. She didn’t need to waste any more of her time mulling over the details. (After all, there will probably be a poorly written TV show about the happenings in her small town one day). 

At the end of the day, Betty and Jughead had somehow managed to come out on the other end of the hurricane. No one was expecting them to, least of all themselves. But here they are ready to leave behind the wreckage of their old lives, just not together. They were going to try the long-distance thing, but Betty knew that their time together was running out. Life would get in the way and pull them even farther apart. Betty shoved these thoughts to the farthest corner of her mind; she couldn’t dwell on this. Not now. Not when she was about to go on her final date with Jughead before they would say goodbye. 

\--

Betty knows that her boyfriend doesn’t consider himself to be a romantic, but she begs to differ. His version of romance comes from a place of simplicity and sentiment. This is why he took her to the remains of the old drive-in, where they sat in the back of FP’s pickup to enjoy a picnic and a special showing of _Rebel Without A Cause_. He has managed to put up a screen and projector to open the drive-in for one night only, for just the two of them. 

It was true bliss, a feeling Betty only experiences when she is with him. Tucked into his side while they ate, laughed, and talked passionately about the wonders of the film and James Dean. 

The credits began to roll, and Betty felt an immense pit of sadness swelter in her chest. It was over, and this was it. 

Jughead could read Betty like a book, and he knew the anxiety she was feeling. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t also experiencing the same waves of uncertainty about their future. 

So they stayed like that. Two lovers intertwined, clinging to each other as a beautifully hopeless attempt to salvage their last moments. If they stayed still enough, it was almost as if time was frozen just for a minute. 

The sun began to set, painting the sky in a watercolor aura. A slight breeze began to dust past their noses, and Betty moved in closer, setting her head on Jughead’s chest. She could hear his heart beating. God, she loved him, all of him. 

More time passed, the sun was nothing but a sliver hovering above them. Betty had tried so hard not to let any of her emotions ruin this day, but inevitably they would bubble over. 

She sat up, shifting her head to his shoulder, his fingers began to dance in her hair. 

“Things are changing, aren’t they.”

He was mildly startled by her words cutting through the silence. 

“Yeah, I guess so.”

Betty didn’t want to get sappy; she knows how Jughead feels about cheesy coming of age movies. But she couldn’t help it. Betty was a logical person, always using her head first, except when it came to him. With him, she was all heart. 

“Do you think things will ever be the same?”

“Probably not.”

He continued stroking her head and placed a tender kiss to her forehead. He was going to miss being able to touch her, hold her, and breathe her into him. 

“Do you think things will be okay?”

“Honestly, Betts, I have no idea.”

“And that doesn’t scare you?”

“Not really.”

“Why not, Jug.”

He sat up to face her, eyes melting into one another.

“Because we have right now, here. And right now feels pretty good.”

She pulled him into a euphoric kiss. They went back to watching the last of the sunset. She was tucked right back into his side like a puzzle snapping into place. 

“Yeah, it does. Doesn’t it.”

They couldn’t predict the future. They could try, but why bother. 

One day they would stop drifting, the dust would settle, and they would open their eyes and see the world again. They would walk hand in hand into the new horizon. After all, she had already found her home: it was him. 

\--

_I know, I know_

_It’s not like it was_

_That don’t mean I’m just_

_Hanging it up_

  
  



End file.
